


love the way you lie

by tomlintops



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 17-Year-Old Harry, 29-Year-Old Louis, Age Difference, Angst, Bottom Harry, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Older Louis, Smut, Top Louis, Underage Sex, Younger Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-28
Packaged: 2018-03-02 04:53:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2800277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomlintops/pseuds/tomlintops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>au: harry has a habit of lying and louis is a lawyer whose had his heart broken one too many times.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> in this story, harry is seventeen years old, but i imagine him to look like nineteen year old harry. but, if you want to imagine him like seventeen year old harry, then by all means, go ahead. but just a forewarning so when i start describing him in the story, you guys aren't like "that's not what seventeen year old harry looks like!!1!"

you can click [here](http://sanfernandovalleyblog.blogspot.com/2014/07/celeb-re-dark-knight-producer-thomas.html) if you want to see what louis' house looks like, so you're not confused when i describe it later on in this chapter.

\---

louis picks up a box of special k cereal and looks at the nutrition facts on the side of the box. once he sees that the amount of calories and fat are okay for his diet, he throws it into the basket he's holding in his hand, on top of all of the bags of fresh fruits and vegetables already in there. he turns to walk out of the aisle to go grab a gallon of skim milk, when somebody runs right into him.

the surprise of the crash causes him to drop his basket full of food, causing almost all of the food to fall out. 

"shit," he curses, sending an apologetic smile to the elderly lady who walks past him and gives him a nasty look. 

he bends down and starts picking up the food and a pair of large hands begin to help him. louis pauses his movements and looks up and sees a mess of curls looking straight at him. he looks back down and puts the basket straight up and places the food back into it - the large hands doing the same. he stands up and brushes the dirt off of his black slacks before looking up to be met with a pair of bright green eyes looking right back at him.

the boy - man, maybe, louis isn't sure - has curly dark brown hair, styled up in a messy quiff, wide green eyes, cherry red plump lips that louis can't seem to take his eyes off of. but, he does, when the boy -  _man? -_ speaks up. 

"i'm so sorry for running in to you, i wasn't watching where i was going." he apologizes.

"it's okay, no hard feelings." louis assures him, smiling.

"sorry," he chuckles. "my mom's always telling me that i need to keep my nose out of this thing." he gestures to the iphone in his hand.

"they  _can_ be pretty distracting, i know that for a fact." louis laughs.

the boy just smiles at him and, after a couple of seconds of silence, puts out his hand. "i'm harry." he introduces himself. 

"louis," louis replies, shaking harry's hand. 

"louis," harry tests out the name, still smiling. "so, louis, if you don't mind me asking: is there a reason you felt the need to get so dressed up just to come to the grocery store?" he asks, taking in louis' attire of black dress pants, a white button up shirt, a black blazer, and a pair of black suede dress shoes. his hair is gelled up in too a high quiff.

"i actually just got off work, thank you very much." louis says, mock offended.

"okay, calm down." harry holds his hands out in front of him. "i never said that i didn't like it." he smirks, looking louis up and down. 

louis chuckles lightly and looks down at the ground, smiling. harry doesn't miss the blush that peeks out from under his collar. louis looks up through his long eyelashes at harry and laughs again, shaking his head. 

"well, how would you like it if i asked you for your number?" louis asks casually.

"i'd like that." harry smiles and nods. 

harry prattles off his number to louis, louis doing the same, and they say their goodbyes, going their separate ways to finish their shopping.

louis gets a text from harry later that night saying:

_you look sexy in a suit ;)_

\---

harry walks into study hall the next day with a smile on his face. he's grinning down at his phone, typing out a reply to louis' text. he takes a seat in his desk and doesn't even bother to look up and greet his two best friends. liam and niall give each other confused looks - having never seen harry in this state before. 

"earth to harry." liam says, waving a hand in front of harry's face. 

"huh?" he looks up with raised eyebrows, looking back and forth between the two boys. 

"who are you talking to that's so important, that you can't even say hi to us?" niall asks, putting a hand over his heart in mock offense. 

"sorry, sorry." harry apologizes, telling louis that  _i gotta go, i'll talk to u later. :)x,_ and putting his phone in his pocket.

"who was that?" liam asks curiously. 

"no one." harry shrugs. 

liam and niall both give him pointed looks, staring him down until he breaks. 

"no one," he repeats exasperatedly. "it's- just this guy." he mumbles.

just like harry expected, his two best friends start obnoxiously chanting  _harry's got a boyfriend, harry's got a boyfriend_ until harry shushes them frantically when the other students in the classroom start staring. 

"he's not my boyfriend." he says, "i just met him yesterday."

"how'd you guys meet?" niall questions.

"erm, i ran into him at the store yesterday. like,  _literally_ ran into him." harry starts laughing at the memory. "and we kinda just- started talking, and then he asked for my number."

"what's he look like? do you have a picture of him?"

"no, not yet. but, he's  _really_ fit." harry smirks. 

"what school does he go to?"

"i actually don't think he's in school," harry says in realization as he thinks back to louis' attire at the store yesterday, remembering that he said that he had just come straight from work.

"how old  _is_ he, then?" niall asks in disbelief. 

harry just shrugs, "i'll just ask him later, i think he's at work right now, i don't want to bother him."

niall and liam just leave it at that, and all three of them take out their chemistry textbooks and start studying for the test they have next period. 

\---

" _mom?!_ " harry yells as he walks into the house after school.

"yes, sweetie?" she replies back a second later, peeking her head out of the kitchen. 

"can niall and liam come over?" 

anne laughs as she sees the two boys in question already trailing into the house behind harry. "of course, they're always welcome over." she smiles. "hello, boys."

"hi, anne," the two boys wave to her before following harry upstairs to his room. harry closes the door once their all in and they all throw their bags into the corner of the room. harry and niall get comfortable on harry's bed, liam taking a seat at harry's desk.

"you know you can sit on the bed, li. it's big enough for all three of us." harry says, gesturing to the big gap on the bed.

"it's okay, i'm fine right here." liam assures him. 

"suit yourself." 

"anyways," niall sighs, "are you going to show us what this louis guy looks like?" 

harry just glares at him and then takes his phone out of his pocket, opening up a new text.

_hey, you mind sending me a picture? i miss your face :)_

he throws his phone onto the bed and waits for a reply. almost ten minutes later, his phone vibrates with a new text from louis. he just sends a smiley face, with a picture attached of him standing in front of a body length mirror, clad in a navy blue suit, his hair styled the same way it was the day before, and a tiny smirk on his face. 

harry hands his phone to niall and waits patiently for his reaction. he just jumps off of the bed and runs over to liam, showing him the picture. they whisper quietly between one another with huge grins on their faces. niall eventually looks up to harry, 

"me and li both agree that your new boyfriend is fit as fuck." he states. 

"for the last time, he's not my boyfriend." harry says exasperatedly. 

"whatever you say, bro." niall shrugs, climbing back onto the bed and handing harry his phone.

harry takes his phone and stares at the picture, smiling to himself. 

"wait, can i see that again?" liam asks. 

harry reluctantly tosses the phone to him, glaring at liam when he almost doesn't catch it. liam smiles apologetically at him and then analyzes the picture with furrowed eyebrows. 

"he looks  _really_ familiar." 

"i don't know, maybe you've seen him around town before." harry shrugs. 

"no, no," liam shakes his head, "that's not it. what's his last name?"

"i don't know, li, i only met him not even twenty-four hours ago."

"well, can you ask him?" liam asks, throwing the phone back to harry. 

harry catches it and just tosses it to the side, "he's at work, i don't want to bother him anymore." he gets off the bed and grabs all three of their backpacks, throwing niall and liam theirs, and climbing back onto the bed with his own, taking out his spanish homework. 

"let's get to work." he says, ending all conversation about louis for the rest of the night. 

\---

" _you should come over tonight_ ," louis suggests later that week when he and harry are talking on the phone.

"i have to get up really early in the morning."

" _that's okay_ ," louis assures him, " _we'll just make the most of tonight_ _._ "

"okay, text me your address and i'll be right over." 

they hang up and once harry receives louis' address, he packs an overnight bag and slips on some shoes and runs downstairs. he stops in the middle of the living room when he sees his mom sitting on the couch watching tv. 

"hey, mom, can i go stay at a friends house tonight?" 

"who is it?" his mom asks. 

"erm, just someone from school." he lies, because if his mom found out he was going to stay at a random man that he met at the store's house, she would flip. 

"that's fine, sweetie. just don't be late for work in the morning." 

he smiles and nods and grabs his keys from the hook by the door and walks out the front door, to his car. he gets in and types in louis' address into his gps system on his phone and sees that he lives in calabasas - twenty minutes away from harry's house. he pulls out of the driveway and sets off down the road.

\---

harry's gps tells him to turn left, which leads to a dead end. he's learned in the past that gps system's aren't exactly the most trustworthy things to use, so pulls his car over to the side of the road and he calls louis just to make sure he's going the right way. 

" _hey, are you here?_ " louis answers excitedly. 

"no? i don't know, erm- my gps is telling me to turn down a dirt road with a dead end sign in front of it. is that right?" 

" _yeah, do you see a sign that says 'private road' anywhere?_ " 

harry looks around for the sign that louis is describing, and sees it a little further down the dirt road. "i see it." 

" _okay yeah, just follow that road all the way down and i'll go down and buzz you in."_ and then he hangs up. 

 _buzz me in?_ harry thinks confusedly. 

he puts the car into drive and starts down the dirt road. the dirt road soon turns into a smoothly paved road as soon as he reaches the  _private road_ sign. he keeps driving until he gets to a large brass metal gate. he's about to pick up his phone to call louis when he hears a buzzing noise and the gate slowly opens. he starts driving down a windy road lined with lights and small plants, trees arching over the road. 

he eventually pulls up to the house and almost crashes his car when he sees it. the driveway itself is bigger than two of harry's houses put together, a large fountain in the middle of it. the outside of the house is breathtaking; it's a two-story off-white brick house with a huge front lawn and perfectly trimmed trees and shrubs. the driveway continues on through an arch in the middle of the house, to where harry assumes that the garage -  _garages? -_ and backyard is. there are no words to describe how beautiful the house is, and for a second, harry thinks that maybe his gps took him to the wrong house after all, when louis walks out of the house. _  
_

harry turns off his car and grabs his overnight bag from the passengers side and slowly gets out, still staring wide-eyed at the fucking  _mansion_ in front of him.

"you found it," louis says happily, making his way towards harry, smiling brightly at him.

"yeah," harry murmurs, trying to take everything in. 

"c'mon," louis says, tugging on harry's hand and walking him towards the house. 

they walk through the front door and harry's eyes comically widen and his mouth falls open. the inside of the house is just as amazing as the outside, if not better.

"you  _live_ here?" harry asks in disbelief, looking over at louis, who is still holding his hand. 

"i'm pretty sure," he nods, "i mean, unless i've been living in someone elses house for the past three years." he jokes, laughing. 

"what, you- are you famous or something? how can you even  _afford_ all of this?" harry asks, dropping his bag to the floor and letting go of louis' hand and walking further into the house and running his hand over the fancy staircase railing.

"not exactly," louis chuckles in amusement. "i just made the right career choice, i guess." 

"i'll say. this place is amazing."

"well, thank you." louis smiles and goes over to harry and grabs his hand, "now, c'mon, i wanna show you the rest of the house."

harry lets himself be dragged to the next room, enjoying every second of being in this house. 

"this is the sitting room," louis explains. the thing that catches harry's eye first is the large window in the back of the room, silky black drapes hanging from it. he can see the backyard through the window, and he thinks that he can see a pool out there. he'll ask louis about that when they're finished. 

"this is the kitchen, obviously," louis laughs as they walk into the next room. "nothing really special. i don't really use it that often, considering that i can't cook for shit. so i usually just grab something to eat on the way home from work."

"you don't have a cook?" harry asks before he thinks about what he's saying.

"no," louis laughs again, "i don't. i may have a lot of money, but i'm going to make somebody cook for me."

"i'm sorry, that was really rude," harry apologizes. "i shouldn't have asked that."

louis just smiles and leads him down the hallway to the next room. "this is the home theater. again, i don't really use it that often, because i never have the time. kinda hard to kick back and relax when you're always working." he shrugs, turning off the light and closing the door behind him and harry.

louis walks past a closed door and harry opens his mouth to ask a question, "it's just another sitting room, nothing important," louis says shortly before harry can say anything. 

they walk up the stairs, harry running his hand along the railing again. "entertainment room," louis says, walking into the first room at the top of the stairs. there's a large entertainment center against the back wall, the shelves holding everything from movies, laptops, and every game console that harry can think of. the walls are lined with shadow boxes - harry can't see exactly what is inside of them, but from what he  _can_ see, they're filled with a variety of awards, certificates and diplomas. 

louis walks away, harry following behind him.

"gym," louis says, gesturing to a closed door. "guest rooms," he points to two more doors. "and, my room." he points to the double doors at the end of the hall. they walk back down the stairs and to the sitting room, both of them taking a seat on the couch. he turns to harry with a smile, "so, do you like it?" 

" _like_ it? this place is  _incredible._ who do you live here with?" 

louis averts his gaze and looks at the ground, fiddling with his thumbs, his jaw clenching. "erm, no one." he says, looking back up to harry. "just me, myself, and i." he smiles tightly. "oh, and my dog, but she's at her obedience class right now. which should be finishing in," he looks down at his watch, "about an hour."

harry perks up at the mention of a dog, "what kind of dog is she?"

"she's a purebred great dane." louis says proudly.

"isn't that, like, the biggest dog in the world?"

"it sure is. she's still pretty small though, she's just a puppy."

"aw, i love puppies." harry gushes. "what's her name?"

"ruby."

"that's cute, i like that name," harry states. "so, if you don't mind me asking, what do you do? like, what's your job?"

"i'm a lawyer," louis states simply. 

harry furrows his eyebrows. _a lawyer?_ "wait- how old are you?"

"twenty-nine," louis says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.

harry chokes on absolutely nothing when he takes in a quick breath at louis' answer. he hadn't expected him to be  _that_ old.

"are you okay?" louis asks worriedly, reaching over to rub harry's back.

it takes a couple of minutes for harry to stop coughing, "yeah, i-" he clears his throat, "i'm fine. sorry, i just- i wasn't expecting that."

"is that a problem?" louis chuckles humorlessly.

"no,  _no,_ " harry quickly assures him, "it's not a problem at all, i just- i don't know- wasn't expecting it." harry shrugs, not knowing how to explain himself better. 

louis just stares at him intensely, not saying a word. harry squirms under his gaze, not knowing what else to say to him. louis suddenly stands up and walks out of the room, leaving harry by himself in the spacious sitting room.

ten minutes go by and louis still hasn't returned so harry takes out his phone and opens up the twitter app and starts scrolling through his timeline - trying to pass the time until louis comes back. ten more minutes pass and harry is still reading tweets, when he realizes that louis still hasn't come back. 

he walks to the front door and grabs his bag off the floor from where he dropped it earlier and searches the downstairs area of the house, going upstairs when louis is nowhere to be seen. he checks the entertainment room - empty - and is just about to open the door to what he thinks that louis said was just another sitting room, but it opens before he can put his hand on the doorknob.

louis stumbles back in surprise, not expecting harry to be standing right there, and closes the door quickly behind him before harry can look inside. 

"what are you doing?" louis asks. 

"i, erm- you just disappeared, so i started getting worried." 

"oh- yeah, sorry, i erm," louis sniffles, and it's then that harry realizes that it looks like louis had been crying, "i just- here, let me take that for you." louis grabs the bag from harry's hand and takes it to his bedroom, throwing it on the bed. 

"hey, are you okay?" harry asks in concern, trailing behind him. 

"huh?" louis turns to face harry with raised eyebrows, "oh, erm- yeah, i'm fine." he waves harry off. 

"are you sure? i mean, i can leave if you want to be alone. we can do this another day, i don't mind." harry offers. 

" _no,_ " louis shakes his head and rushes to grab harry's hands. "i think being alone is the exact opposite of what i need right now." he huffs out a laugh. 

harry hesitates, "do you want to talk about it?" 

louis starts shaking his head before harry even finishes the question. "no. i'm sorry, i just- it's not something that i'm quite ready to talk about yet."

"hey, it's fine." harry soothes him when he hears louis voice start to shake. 

louis nods and sniffles. he takes a deep breath and then puts a fake smile on his face, "do you want to come with me to pick up ruby?" he asks.

harry blinks at louis' sudden mood change, but nods, not wanting to push   louis to talk about whatever's bothering him. louis just walks out of the room and down the stairs without another word, still holding one of harry's hands, and grabs his keys from the hook by the door. he holds a finger up and runs up the stairs, coming back down not even a minute later, slipping on a pair of shoes and leading harry out of the door.

\---

 


	2. Chapter 2

harry, liam and niall are sitting in study hall the next day, doing everything  _but_ studying. niall and harry are bickering over what college football team is better, liam sitting quietly off to the side. harry is just about to make another point about why  _his_ team is better, when liam interrupts him. 

"did you ever ask louis what his last name was?" he asks. 

harry's eyebrows furrow in confusion, trying to figure out what liam is talking about, and then slaps a hand to his forehead, cursing under his breath, "no, i'm sorry, man. it totally slipped my mind."

liam's shoulders slump in dejection, and just waves it off. 

"why are you so hung up on knowing his last name?" harry asks anyways.

"i just- i  _swear_ i know him from somewhere." liam says in frustration.

"he's no one important, really. he said he's just a lawyer." harry shrugs.

" _that's it!_ " liam shouts. he sends an apologetic look to all of the other students in the room trying to study.

"what's it?" niall asks, confused. 

" _he's_ the one who represented my mom in court when her and my dad got divorced." liam says, a flash of pain going through his eyes - his parents divorce being a touchy subject, with it just happening five months ago.

"wait, wait, wait," niall rushes out before harry can reply to liam's comment, "you said he's a  _lawyer?_ " harry nods. "how old is this kid?"

"he's erm- he's twenty nine." harry mumbles under his breath, not looking his friends in the eyes. liam and niall look at him expectantly, causing harry to sigh and roll his eyes. "he's twenty nine." he says louder. 

" _harry!_ " liam exclaims. "do you realize that's illegal? does  _he_ realize that's illegal?"

harry just shrugs, looking down at his hands.

" _harry._ harry,  _please_ tell me you told him how old you are." 

"he- no, it never came up." harry says sheepishly.

"oh, god," liam groans.

"dude, you need to tell him." niall says.

"i'm going to!" harry defends himself, "i'll tell him tonight." he adds on when niall and liam give him disapproving looks.

\---

harry is sitting indian style on his bed, tossing his phone between his hands. he's shaking his foot nervously, just thinking about how he's going to tell louis that he's only  _seventeen._ he knows that once he tells louis how old he is, that louis is going to want nothing to do with him. 

louis' a mature adult with a high paying job and a nice house. harry's a teenager still in high school who works at a diner and lives with his mom. louis' going to see him as nothing but a child. 

but, he knows it's the right thing to do. so, he opens up a new texts and types out:

_hey, are you busy?_

he knows that louis is probably working, so he waits patiently, but nervously, for a reply. about forty minutes later, his phone vibrates in his hands.

_sorry, I was with a client. what's up, babe? :)_

harry sighs sadly as he reads the endearment tacked on to the end of the sentence. him and louis may have been only seeing each other for a little over a week, but he's going to miss that.

_can you call me when you have a minute please?_

louis' reply comes immediately: _is_   _everything okay?_

_i need to talk to you about something._

louis' face suddenly comes up on harry's screen with an incoming call. harry takes a deep breath and answers it. 

" _hey, are you okay?_ " louis asks before harry can get a word in.

"i'm fine," harry assures him. "i just- there's something i need to tell you, and i want to tell you before we take this - whatever we have - any further." 

" _okay_ ," louis says warily, but lets harry continue.

"i- i'm not as old as you probably think i am." harry says slowly, choosing his words carefully.

" _then how old are you?_ " louis asks hesitantly.

thoughts of how louis is going to react run through harry's mind again. thoughts of how louis is going to kick him to the curb and possibly never speak to him again. thoughts of how louis is going to forget about harry completely, and find somebody else - somebody who is going to give everything to louis that harry wants to, but is never going to get the chance to. so, he does the first thing that he can think of.

"i'm twenty three." 

he lies.

louis just laughs, " _that's okay. is that what you were so worried about? harry, six years isn't that big of an age difference. as long as you're okay with it, then so am i. you're okay with it, right?_ " he asks worriedly.

"no, i- i'm totally fine with it. i just- i wasn't sure if- you know- you were going to be." 

" _it's okay,_ " louis says, a smile clear in his voice. " _hey, i'm sorry, but i've got a call coming in on my work phone. can i call you back later?"_

"no- yeah, just call me or whatever when you get off." 

" _i will,_ " louis promises, " _bye, sweetheart._ " he says, then hangs up before harry can say his goodbye. 

but harry doesn't care. he throws his phone to the end of his bed and groans, laying back and throwing his arms over his face, wondering what the hell he just got himself into. 

\---

"so what do you do?" louis asks later that night when him and harry are cuddling on his bed. he invited harry over, asking him to stay the night again. it was difficult on harry's part, trying to convince his mom to let him stay the night at "liam's" house on a school night, but louis doesn't need to know that. not right now. 

harry has his head resting on louis' chest, an arm thrown over louis' stomach, their legs tangled together. louis has an arm wrapped around harry, holding him close, his hand coming up to run his fingers through harry's curls.

"i'm a doctor," harry says the first thing that comes to mind. 

"a doctor," louis repeats in an impressed tone.

"well, actually a doctor's assistant." harry corrects himself when he realizes that twenty three isn't old enough to have gone through college  _and_ med school already.

"okay," louis chuckles. "but that means you know all the quirks and everything to being a doctor, right? you'd know how to take care of me if i ever get sick?" louis asks jokingly.

"erm, yeah, i guess." harry forces out a laugh.

"i actually considered becoming a doctor." louis says thoughtfully. "you remember in high school when they practically  _forced_ you to choose your career when you were like, what, sixteen?" he laughs, harry laughing along with him. "under all the pressure and everything, i chose a doctor - i'm not saying it's necessarily a  _bad_ career choice, but it's not something that i would want to do myself." he adds quickly, not wanting to offend harry. "my whole first year of college was basically a waste, spending all this extra money on additional medical courses - trying to learn everything i  _possibly_ could about becoming a doctor. my best friend, zayn, finally talked some sense into me, asking me what i  _really_ wanted to do with my life. it came clear to me then that i wanted to be a lawyer. me and him ended up going to the same law school together - still best friends to this day."

"i've kind of always wanted to be a doctor," harry speaks up. "during high school, it never really crossed my mind that _maybe i want to be a teacher or maybe an engineer_ , it's always been set in my mind that i wanted to be a doctor."

louis hums in response, "so, are you already in med school? or..." he trails off.

"yeah, it's my second year." harry answers as soon as he does the math in his head.

"what are you studying?" louis asks curiously.

"erm, oncology." harry says the first thing that comes to his mind. "it's the- the study of cancer and tumors and everything." harry explains, remembering it from something he read in a textbook at school once.

"that's sweet," louis murmurs. "what made you choose that? any specific reason?"

"no," harry shakes his head against louis' chest. "i just like the idea of being able to potentially save somebody's life and watch them recover from such a horrible disease."

"you do know that saving somebody's life also comes with having to watch people slowly and eventually die." louis informs him.

"i know. but, if saving somebody's life means having to lose a couple along the way, then that's all that matters. it's all part of the job."

harry is honestly pulling all of these responses straight out of his ass at this point, but he's finding that the more he talks about this career choice, the more he begins to think that maybe owning his own bakery isn't what he really wants to do. all of this talk about being an oncologist is really intriguing to him, so he pushes it to the back of his mind for him to think about later.

"what's it like being a lawyer?" harry asks before louis can ask him anymore questions.

"it's pretty great, actually." louis explains. "i'm not saying that it's a walk in the park all of the time - it does get pretty tough at times - but it has its perks."

"you mean the pay, for example?" harry jokes.

"yeah, that's one of them." louis laughs tightly, but harry doesn't notice, and continues.

"how much do you make anyways?"

"enough," louis states simply.

"i think it's safe to say that you're making more than _enough_." harry chuckles.

"and i think it's safe to say that we're done talking about this," louis says firmly.

harry lifts himself up and off of louis' chest, looking down at him with furrowed eyebrows, "why're you getting so worked up?"

"i just don't understand why you care so much about how much money i make."

"i don't," harry says exasperatedly. "it was a _joke_."

"yeah? well, i didn't find anything remotely funny about it." louis snaps and pushes harry to the side and slides off the bed.

"are you _kidding_ me?" harry laughs in disbelief. "louis," harry calls after him when he doesn't turn around and walks out of the room.

harry gets off of the bed with a frustrated sigh and runs after him, grabbing louis' hand when he catches up to him. "what is _wrong_ with you?"

"what's wrong with me is that you have no sense of goddamn privacy and respect, and you need to learn how to stay out of people's _fucking business._ " louis fumes.

harry raises his eyebrows in surprise. "wow," he breathes. "i think that's my cue to go." he mumbles and turns back around towards louis' bedroom. he grabs his overnight bag and slings it over his shoulder, pushing past louis, who is still standing in the middle of the hallway with a clenched jaw.

harry makes it halfway down the stairs and stops when he hears louis' voice, "harry, don't go."

harry turns around slowly and looks at louis, who is standing with his shoulders slumped and avoiding any and all eye contact with harry. "i think it's best if i just give you some space, give you some time to calm down."

louis lifts his gaze to meet harry's, and harry is taken aback when he sees louis' eyes glistening. "i'm sorry," louis whispers.

harry just nods. "i'll call you later." he assures louis and makes his way down the rest of the stairs and out the front door.

\---

harry gets home and goes up to his room, setting his bag down and pulling his phone out. he's surprised when he sees that he has about seven texts from louis, all of them received within the twenty minutes it took harry to get home. he unlocks his phone and reads them:

_i didn't mean to yell at you, i'm sorry_

_please don't be mad at me_

_you're not replying, why aren't you replying? please text me back_

_god i sound like a needy bitch i know but i just need to know tht youre not mad at me_

_i know you said you'd call me but i just need to make sure we're okay_

_baby :(_

_fuck i probablyy sound really fucking pathetic right now i'm literally embarrassed for myself_

harry goes to his contacts and purses his lips as his thumb hovers over the call button next to louis' name. he eventually presses it and louis answers after the first ring.

" _harry?_ " he a says in a hopeful voice.

"i'm not mad at you," harry says simply.

" _you're not?_ "

harry ignores louis' question, "but, i just don't think this - _us_ \- is going to work out if you blowing up like that is going to become a regular thing."

" _it's not, i swear._ " louis promises frantically. " _i'm not usually like that, but i just- my job and my salary are a very touchy subject for me. i don't want to go into detail as to why it is, but i just need you to understand that that's why i got so defensive. it was never my intention to yell at you, sweetheart._ "

"okay, i get it." harry nods, even though louis can't see him. "i won't bring it up again, i'm sorry."

" _you don't need to apologize, but thank you_."

"i'm gonna go, i really need to get some hom- _paper_ work done." harry quickly corrects himself.

" _alright, have a good day at work tomorrow_."

"you, too." harry replies, and then hangs up the phone before he can start feeling guilty about the fact that he's _lying_ to louis. it doesn't work.

\---

louis puts the key into the door and turns it. he slowly opens the door and walks into the room. he always feels weird coming in here, always feels like he's invading someone's privacy, because this was _his_ office. this was _his_ work space, this was _his_ room that him and louis put together from scratch _just_ for him. the bookshelves, the books, the chairs, the table, the desk, the computer, the awards and all of the evidence of everything that he accomplished in just three short years, it was all _his_.

louis closes the door behind him and walks over to one of the bookshelves, running his fingers along the spines of the books. he picks up a book, _Me, Myself, and L_. he walks over to one of the leather chairs in the middle of the room and sits down, opening up the book to the very first page.

_do you ever get the feeling that your heart is going to burst out of your chest at any given moment? yeah? well, try having that feeling every single day. because for me, that's how it is. i never thought that i could feel this way, i never thought that it was even possible to feel this much love all at once. but, being with this man, i've learned that it's more than possible. every single day that passes by, i fall in love with him even more. cliche, i know._

_his bright blue eyes that are always filled with love every time i find myself looking into them, his beautiful smile that i'm always doing whatever i can to put on his face, his soft hair that always looks flawless no matter what he decides to do with it, his curvy body that looks amazing in a suit but looks even more amazing without one, his dainty hands that fit perfectly with mine, his pink lips that i can't stand keeping away from my own. i can go on for hours about how perfect he is, but that's not what this is about._

_i'm not going to write about a fairytale romance, because we're far from having one. we're just a normal couple, one that fights about whose turn it is to wash the dishes this time. we have our good times and we have our bad times, but that's what comes with being in a relationship - with being in love._

_what i am going to write about is my life. my accomplishments. my hardships. think of this as your exclusive look into my diary._

_i'm going to write about how i finally found love. i'm going to write about the man who stole my heart, and how i don't even care, because it's all his, he can have it._

_i'm going to write about the story of me, myself, and L._

louis doesn't realize he's crying until a tear falls on to the page. he quickly wipes it away before it can damage the paper, and closes the book, setting it down on the coffee table in front of him. he picks up the picture frame sitting next to it, and brings his feet up into the chair with him, curling into himself.

he remembers the exact day the picture was taken. it was the day that they went against society's rules, flied to canada, and did what they knew was right. it may not have changed anything, but _they_ knew what that moment meant to them, and would always mean to them. that was, still is, and always will be louis' favorite day.

he cries himself to sleep clutching the picture to his chest, only to wake up hours later with tears still in his eyes.

\---


End file.
